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Thank you. That was my first thought as well, but in testing that's quite not the way people like to approach the problem. (In fairness, the form I have on th

by spokey 17y ago

Thank you. That was my first thought as well, but in testing that's quite not the way people like to approach the problem. (In fairness, the form I have on the homepage currently also isn't quite the way people like to approach it.) For example, here's a sampling of posting from a general purpose (not bike specific) forum from the past 24 hours: * What is the best comfort bike/city bike for under $500? * Whats a light bike for city riding? * Recommendation for Cyclocross Bike for Winter Road Riding? * Whats a decent hard tail mountain Bike for under 500? * Suggestions for a $650 road bike? * I'm looking to spend around $2000 on a road bike. What should I get? This is the immediate need I'm trying to serve with that form on the homepage. I imagine I'll eventually have a bike "wizard" like you describe, but from my research (and watching others in the space) that's not quite an intuitive approach for users.

RyanMcGreal 17y ago
You're probably right that the form I suggested isn't quite right - it was off the cuff. Still, I think the design needs to reflect the problems people are trying to solve. Given the sample questions you listed, the form currently on the site is still backwards - running from particular products back towards uses. Here's an idea: have you considered pushing the expertise out to the site community instead of having to hard-code it? I'm thinking of something like a stackoverflow for cycling. That way the site will respond directly to the precise questions that users have, rather than trying to force-map the 'typical' question into a form at all.
- spokey 17y ago
  That's interesting. I'll need to noodle on it some more.
mwexler 17y ago
Hmmm... I'm a bike newbie, and when I just bought my road bike, I never used the word Cyclocross or "hard tail". And I bet, if you looked at the answers to questions like "Suggestions for a $650 road bike?", they were all things like "It depends on whether you are commuting or riding for fitness, in what weather, what terrain, etc.?" That is, you get answers like "This Specialized is a great bike for..." where they provide the context around why they suggest it, or they ask for further details. You have the data, you just need to provide interesting ways to get at it. The wizard may not be it... but how you provide the answers should show that you understand what the person is trying to answer.

by spokey 17y ago

RyanMcGreal 17y ago

You're probably right that the form I suggested isn't quite right - it was off the cuff. Still, I think the design needs to reflect the problems people are trying to solve. Given the sample questions you listed, the form currently on the site is still backwards - running from particular products back towards uses. Here's an idea: have you considered pushing the expertise out to the site community instead of having to hard-code it? I'm thinking of something like a stackoverflow for cycling. That way the site will respond directly to the precise questions that users have, rather than trying to force-map the 'typical' question into a form at all.

spokey 17y ago
That's interesting. I'll need to noodle on it some more.

mwexler 17y ago

Hmmm... I'm a bike newbie, and when I just bought my road bike, I never used the word Cyclocross or "hard tail". And I bet, if you looked at the answers to questions like "Suggestions for a $650 road bike?", they were all things like "It depends on whether you are commuting or riding for fitness, in what weather, what terrain, etc.?" That is, you get answers like "This Specialized is a great bike for..." where they provide the context around why they suggest it, or they ask for further details. You have the data, you just need to provide interesting ways to get at it. The wizard may not be it... but how you provide the answers should show that you understand what the person is trying to answer.